Author: Emily Goodwin
Category: Vampires
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And two grow back in seconds.
Scarlet jumps at the creature I’m holding, sinking her little puppy fangs into its leg. The thing shakes her off. In her current form, she can’t do much damage. But if I took her collar off…
“We need to get into the house,” Ruby says and sends a blast of energy at the creature my familiars attacked. It staggers back, and Freya goes for it again, snapping its legs off as Pandora clamps her teeth down on the thing’s neck. “Seal it and think of a plan.”
“Can they burst through the floor?” Kristy asks, eyes wide with fear.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Ruby takes a quick step back. “Go, now!” She throws out her hands, putting up a shield to give Kristy a head start. Kristy turns and sprints up the porch steps, stopping at the doorway.
“Guys,” I call to my familiars. “Inside, now!” I look at Scarlet, who’s going back to attack the creature again, and a vision suddenly flashes through my mind. It’s a millisecond of an image played out before me, but I know what we have to do.
“There’s a way to kill them,” I say and watch as another root-monster springs from the ground, slipping beneath my warding.
“How?”
“Trees can be cut down.” Two root-monsters come at me at the same time. I raise my leg, kicking one in the chest and telekinetically throw the other back. Freya and Pandora shadow over, pulling it apart. It’ll regrow its limbs, but it buys us some time.
You’ve got hellfire inside you, kid.
“And forests can burn.”
“Cut them with what?” Ruby shoves another wall of energy at one of the creatures. Another pops up, just feet from her, and springs forward, red eyes glowing and mouth wide open. It extends its arm and, with vines twisting from its hands in place of fingers, grabs a handful of Ruby’s braids, yanking her back.
I drop to the ground, throwing out my leg and spinning, knocking one of the creatures off its feet. It falls backwards into another creature, and I send a pulse of energy across the yard, knocking the creature that has a hold of Ruby back.
It tumbles back, taking Ruby with it. Shit.
They both fall, with Ruby landing hard on her back. The creature rolls over, hissing and snarling as it tries to bite her.
“Ruby!” I yell and throw my hand out again, trying to send the creature flying. But another sprouts from the ground right in front of me, and the force of the energy blast snaps its head back, hanging at an unnatural angle.
Freya and Pandora shadow over to me, tearing another apart. I push myself up and sprint forward, magic sizzling around my fingers. I grab the root-monster’s shoulders and try to yank it off Ruby. The thing is strong—too strong for me. It reaches back, smacking me hard in the face. I stagger back, nose stinging with pain. I blink, stars dotting my vision, feeling as if my nose is broken. Fighting through the nauseating pain, I jump forward again.
“Get off her!” I yell, and a bit of blood drips from my nose. It lands on the creature’s arm and sizzles, burning a tiny hole in the roots. Startled, the creature looks at its arm, releasing Ruby. She scrambles back, eyes wide, and throws out her hands, knocking the thing off its feet.
“What did you do?”
“I…I don’t know,” I say and bring my hand up, wiping my bloody nose. I bring my hand back and look at my blood.
Holy shit.
These things are demonic.
I’m half angel.
You’ve got hellfire in you kid…and something else.
Witchcraft can’t kill them, but I have more than just witchcraft in my blood.
“Whatever you did, do it again,” Ruby says, stepping next to me. My familiars shadow by, knocking another creature to the ground and tearing it apart, limb from limb. We need you, I call to Binx, and he’s here in an instant, knocking down and tearing apart as many root-monsters as he can.
But as soon as they go down, they come right back up.
“Fuck,” I mutter, turning and looking at all the root-monsters. My familiars pulverize them again, knocking them down like bowling pins. Evil bowling pins that want to rip our flesh from our bodies.
Ruby backs up to me, holding her hands out in front of her. “Protegam eum,” she says, throwing up a shield. Energy waves around us, but it’s not enough. One of the creatures reaches through, swiping a thorny hand in my face. “Protegam eum!” she tries again, but it’s not enough.
I grab her hand, turning to look her in the eye. She nods ever so slightly and gives my hand a squeeze.
“Protegam eum,” we chant together, right as my familiars do another sweep through the root-monsters. The shield goes up, putting up a physical barrier that will hold for the time being.
“Now what?” Ruby asks, not letting go of my hand. We take a step back, moving toward the porch. The root-monsters push against the shield, and I grit my teeth, squeezing Ruby’s hand as we keep the magic going in front of us.
“I have one more plan.” We move back another foot, and I look at Scarlet. “But you have to promise you won’t freak out.”
“We’re surrounded by killer trees. It’s a little late for not freaking out.”
“Right. But just…just promise.”
“Fine, I promise. If you have a plan, then do it now! I…we…we can’t hold them back for much longer!”
“Scarlet,” I call, and the puppy bounds over, tail wagging. I turn back to Ruby. “Hold the shield.”
Before she can ask why, I drop down and reach for Scarlet’s collar. The second my fingers touch the buckle, the letters of her name, etched into the leather, glow for a brief second before fading. I hesitate right before I let the collar fall to the ground.
There’ll be no going back after this. Ruby will know I have a hellhound, and she sure as shit won’t let it go. She’ll threaten to turn me in, and it’ll all come out that Tabatha and Evander have known about Scarlet from the start.
And she’ll demand to know how I got Scarlet in the first place.
But when a dozen more root-monsters sprout from the ground, surrounding us and pressing harder against our shield, I know I don’t have a choice.
These things will push in until they close in on us. They’ll rip us to pieces, and then will go after my sister. And I’m not putting Abby, Penny, or Phil at risk.
I take off her collar, and the air vibrates as the glamour is lifted, revealing my cute little puppy as the terrifying hellhound she actually is.
Looking like a mix between a pony-sized Great Dane and a bull Mastiff with glowing, demonic eyes, Scarlet pulls her lips back, baring her fangs.
“Sic ‘em, girl,” I say and stand up, heart in my throat.
Ruby’s hands fall to her side in shock, and the root-monsters use her distraction to their advantage. One dives in, vines stretching and twisting around Ruby’s throat. Another shoves me to the ground, and I fall, hitting my head against the hard-packed dirt at the base of my porch steps. The wind is knocked out of me, and Binx is by my side in under a second, shadowing me back a few feet to keep the root-monster from plunging its thorn-covered fist into my chest.
“Thanks,” I pant and scramble up just in time to see Scarlet make a running leap for the root-monster that has a hold of Ruby. She knocks her off, and I run over, helping Ruby to her feet. “I’ll explain later,” I rush out. “If we make it out of this alive.”
My familiars and Scarlet plow through the army of root-monsters, but it doesn’t matter how much they tear them apart. The roots twist and grow back, taking on human forms. Ruby and I stand side by side, holding our hands up, desperately trying to come up with a plan.
“Callie!” Kristy calls, stepping onto the porch. I turn and see her holding a sword and a machete from my weapons chest. “You said they can be cut down.”
“You’re a genius,” I say, telekinetically shoving another root-monster away. The same vision flashes through my mind as Kristy slides the sword across the porch.
A woman in a long gray gown holds a shining silver sword in one hand,
holding it up to the sky. She extends her other arm and brings the blade to her flesh, slowly tearing open her skin. The vision fades, but not before I see the outline of wings.
Ruby jumps back, taking the machete. She takes a breath and sets her face, ready to attack.
“Wait,” I say and grab the hilt of the sword. This thing is heavy, and I don’t have the superhuman strength of the angels. I rest the tip against the last porch step, twisting around to see my familiars and Scarlet knock the root-monsters down again.
Then I put my arm to the blade, close my eyes, and cut myself.
“Callie!” Kristy gasps. Ruby turns, mouth opening in question.
“Trust me,” I rush, turning the sword so the flat side of the blade is against my skin. Flinching from the pain, I drag the sword up, smearing my blood down the blade. Then I grab it and hold it up, feeling power surging inside me.
“Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me,” I say. “Purge the wickedness.” A bright blue light shines from within me, illuminating my blood on the sword. Going on pure adrenaline, I spring forward and take a swing at the closest root-monster. The blade slices into its torso like butter, but I didn’t swing hard enough to cut all the way through.
No. This was supposed to work. I saw it working and now—holy shit.
Fire starts to sizzle inside the root monster, and I pull the blade back, watching smoke pour from the wound. The thing lets out a screech as it falls, collapsing into a pile of ash.
I step back, eyes wide, looking at the smoldering remains of the root-monster. My wonderment is cut short when another rushes at me, popping up from the ground just inches away from my face. I swing the sword up, cutting it right between the legs.
Still lacking the strength to actually cut the thing in half, my blade gets stuck halfway up, where the naval would be if this thing were a person. And again, fire sparks from around the blade. Only a few seconds later, there’s nothing but smoldering ash in front of me.
“Ruby!” I yell, shaking myself. I run forward, grabbing the sword with two hands. Freya and Pandora knock another to the ground, pinning it down for me to stab right in the center of its chest. I wait until the blade starts to spark before yanking it back. I jump over the root-monster right as fire ripples through its body, reducing it to nothing but a charred pile of twigs.
“You…you need my blood,” I pant, holding up my arm. The blood is still dripping, and now that I’m looking at the wound, the pain is starting to register. Ruby’s lips part in shock, but she brings the machete to my skin and drags it across.
I throw out my hand, resting my palm on the blade. “Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me. Purge the wickedness.” The same blue light glows deep inside me, and I stagger back, feeling a little weak. Ruby stares at me, wide-eyed, until a root-monster takes a swing at her.
She counters, bringing the machete up. It slices its vine-covered arm right off, and fire sizzles up, burning the thing to the ground. Another takes its place, and Ruby swings the machete again, blade sinking into the head of another. The blade glows for a millisecond, and then the creature burns from the inside out, with the fire starting where the machete sank in.
I don’t have time to think. The sun is sinking lower in the sky, and the smell of sulfur is getting stronger. Gritting my teeth, I wrap my fingers around the grip of my sword and bring my arms up, slashing my way through a line of root-monsters.
They spark and fall, embers and ash filling the air. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I turn, slicing through another Binx knocked down for me.
“Callie!” Ruby yells and runs toward the house. Two creatures are trying to get into the house. Kristy stands in the doorway, holding her hands up as she recites a protective spell, barring the creatures from entering. They’re too strong. They’re going to break through.
“Scarlet,” I call. “Protect the house!”
The hellhound bounds over, tearing through the root-monsters, and grabs one from the porch, shaking it in her strong jaws as she tears it apart. Ruby jumps up the steps and brings her machete down on the other. I’m there only seconds later, turning, ready to defend my house.
“We need to take cover,” Ruby pants. “We’re outnumbered.”
My chest rises and falls, and nerves tingle along my spine. We are outnumbered. There has to be at least fifty root-monsters, and even with weapons that can actually kill these things, I don’t see how we can cut them down fast enough. More keep coming.
“No,” I say and swing at another. “I’m not running.” I turn, flicking my eyes to Ruby’s. I expect her to throw down the machete and go inside, either running away through the front door or trying to seal the house with magic.
But she nods. “You take the left and I’ll take the right.”
“I’ll have my familiars attack from behind.”
Ruby swallows hard. “Okay. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” We jump off the porch, going after the closest root-monsters. I cut down two more, turning my head as they fall so I don’t breathe in smoke. Scarlet lunges forward, large paws hitting another creature in the chest. She knocks it to the ground, and I swing at another right behind it.
The root-monsters slowly go down, one by one. I look up, and my heart lurches. We’ve barely put a dent in the army. Blood trickles down my arm, and I feel my muscles failing as I bring the heavy blade up again, taking a swing at another root-monster.
This time, it counters, holding up an arm, which looks like a gnarled tree branch. The sword clashes against it and then clatters out of my hands.
I can’t reach down and get the sword without leaving myself in the open for an attack. I muster every ounce of energy I can and push it forward, shoving five root-monsters back at once. They crash together and fall to the ground. Instead of getting right back up, though, this time, two merge together, twisting and changing shape from human to a giant spider.
Holy fucking shit.
My breath hitches, and pain radiates through my arm. I’m bleeding a lot more than I thought I would, and I’m starting to feel it. Binx, able to sense what I’m feeling, shadows over and knocks the spider off its eight legs. The creature hisses and springs back up. Sharp thorns suddenly pop up along its legs, and it rounds on me, large mouth opening to reveal yellowed fangs.
I jump back and step on the sword. I go down hard, and the spider crouches, ready to pounce. Another root-monster runs at me with inhuman speed, mouth open and screeching. Binx shadows around me and goes for that one, knocking it down and pulling its legs off.
Looking up, I try to find Ruby, but she’s lost in the sea of monsters. I’m not giving up. We have a way to fight these things. But there are so fucking many.
Gritting my teeth, I push forward and go to grab the sword. Right as my fingers wrap around the hilt, the spider attacks, pinning me to the ground with two legs.
“Scarlet!” I try to yell, but the spider brings another leg to my face, and vines wrap around my neck, squeezing tight and making it so I can’t breathe. I bring my hand up, trying to zap the thing with magic in a desperate attempt to get it off me.
But nothing works.
Gasping, I claw at the vines around my neck. I can’t breathe, and it’ll only be a few more seconds before I’ll pass out…and then die. My fingers hook under one of the vines and I pull, but I’m losing strength fast.
I need air.
My mouth opens again, and I try to call out for someone—anyone—to help me. And then I see Binx, fighting off three root-demons at once. He tears one apart just to have it regrow and go after him again.
My vision starts to black out, and the vines tighten even more around my throat, giving me one last squeeze before everything goes black.
Chapter 21
“Callie!”
My name echoes in my ears, and I force my eyes open, body twitching in desperation for air. The vines are too tight around my throat. My hands fall to the ground, having no fight left in me.
And then lit
tle embers fall down on me, burning the skin on my cheeks. The spider’s mouth opens, and thick, yellow drool drips down on me. The vines loosen, and the spider is jerked away just in the nick of time. It erupts into flames, and the vines around my throat disintegrate to nothing.
Lucas stands above me, holding the sword. His blue eyes are wide as he looks at me with fear on his handsome face. He turns, swinging the sword through the air with ease, and chops another root-monster clean in half. It’s ash before it even hits the ground.
“Callie,” he repeats and drops to his knees.
Coughing, I let him pull me up. I suck in air only to cough again.
“I…I…” I’m coughing too hard to get a word out. But I’m okay.
I’m alive.
“Ru…Rub…” I force out, trying to get him to go help Ruby. I still can’t see her. Lucas lets me go and turns, brandishing the sword through the air. He cuts down two root-monsters at once and then turns back to me.
Adrenaline rushes through me.
Ruby and I lacked the speed and strength to mow down these demonic motherfuckers. But Lucas doesn’t. Still unable to speak, I look Lucas in the eye and push him away.
He gives me a small nod and whirls around, speeding away and cutting up another root-monster. I stagger back, leaning against the porch railing for a moment. I bring my hands to my throat, wincing from pain when I swallow. Binx shadows over, protecting me as I catch my breath before getting back into the fight.
My chest aches, and every breath I take burns going in. I let my eyes fall shut as I take a slow, deep breath. Wincing when I swallow, I push off the porch and ball my fingers into fists.
“Come on,” I mutter, looking at my fingers. “I call forth the fire from Hell.”
Nothing happens.
I hold my hands up, heart racing, and try to summon hellfire again.
“Dammit.”
The ground trembles, and another root-monster sprouts up just feet from me. I pull in energy and bring my hands out in front of me, telekinetically pushing the thing backwards. Binx snaps it in half.
“Thanks,” I pant and look around the yard with my heart in my throat. Ruby is surrounded, backed into a corner without the machete. “Go,” I tell Binx, who can get there faster than I can.